2017 Lutheran Studies Conference
“Sing! 500 Years of Faith, Reform and Liberation”
With an evening concert by The National Lutheran Choir
September 28, 2017
Seventh Annual Lutheran Studies Conference at PLU – Thursday, September 28, 2017
Come Join in the Song and Celebration!
The Seventh Annual Lutheran Studies Conference will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Thursday, Sept. 28 beginning in the Regency Room of the Anderson University Center, with events also in Lagerquist Concert Hall. This conference will focus on the liberating and reforming role singing has played in the Protestant tradition from its very beginning. Participants will be invited to participate in song and learn about the role music has played in the Lutheran and Gospel music traditions.
Following the conference, the National Lutheran Choir, directed by Dr. David Cherwien, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28 in Lagerquist Concert Hall. The concert is free and open to the public, but tickets must be picked up in advance at the PLU Concierge Desk in the Anderson University Center. Tickets will be available starting Monday, Sept. 11 on a first-come, first-served basis. Limit of 10 tickets/per person.
The annual Lutheran Studies Conference provides an opportunity for the university, the larger community, and persons from diverse religious and humanistic viewpoints to explore particular and pressing issues within the thoughtful and generous milieu of Lutheran higher education. Each conference welcomes scholars, artists, and religious leaders whose expertise is offered in an engaging and thought-provoking manner. Past conferences have been devoted to the limited gift of water (2011), political commitments (2012), the figure of Jesus of Nazareth (2013), and justice in society (2014). As a university of the church, PLU promotes the 500 year Lutheran tradition of asking difficult questions, welcoming opposing viewpoints in civil conversation, nurturing a community of intellectual charity, and challenging students, alumni, and friends to promote a just, peaceful, and sustainable way of life for all, not just the privileged few.
The conference is free and open to the public and is made possible by the generosity of the anonymous donors who endowed the University Chair in Lutheran Studies.
Conference Schedule
Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017
9 - 10 a.m. | Registration in the Anderson University Center Upper Lobby
10 - 10:15 a.m. | Regency Room
From the outset of Martin Luther’s Reform 500 years ago, Lutherans have sung. Through singing in congregations and choirs, the theology of Luther was brought into the hearts and practices of the people. Garrison Keillor popularized “Singing with the Lutherans” on A Prairie Home Companion over the last decades but, in many forms, Protestants have raised voices of protest and faith for hundreds of years.
10:15 - 11 a.m. | Regency Room
For music to be “Lutheran” the music is to be eclectic, as it has always been. From the earliest accounts in Hebrew Scriptures, to the Psalter, to the stories of Jesus and the disciples, and continuing throughout history, the People of God have sung. Each era of time, each place on earth, has left a remnant of song in the sung repertoire of the church, a remnant which provides a glimpse into the practice and theology of each era and place. The Reformation initiated by Martin Luther marked a new direction in the church’s song, spurring a new wave of creativity that continues today across the whole church. What makes what the church sings “Lutheran”? What does it mean to carry on the tradition of Lutheran music in the church?
11:15 a.m. - 12 p.m. | Lagerquist Concert Hall
45 minutes of celebrating the Lutheran singing tradition, lead by the Choir of the West, brass, piano, and the mighty Gottfried and Mary Fuchs organ in Lagerquist Concert Hall in the Mary Baker Russell Music Center on the Pacific Lutheran University campus.
12 - 1:30 p.m. | Lunch Break
1:30 - 2:30 p.m. | Regency Room
Lutheran college and university choral programs have had a large impact on the development of choral music in America. This presentation will highlight the history and major figures of this great hallmark of Lutheran higher education.
2:45 - 3:30 p.m. | Regency Room
In African American Sacred Song, the human body represents the rhythm, the soul, the melodic range and the spirit articulates meter and time. For African American Christians, this holistic way of experiencing and creating music is a means of serving and enjoining oneself with Jesus Christ. The awareness of sacrificing the body in Christian worship can be connected to the slave trade history. Giving over one’s body to God in the worship gathering was a not only a response to fighting against the physicality of enslavement and oppression, but moreover, a way of rising above the atrocities and immersing oneself in spirituality. In the worship experience, there is practice of solidarity for God’s people when they become enjoined physically through singing and dancing. During the slave trade African bodies were not given, they were stolen and broken. Out of these black broken bodies arose songs of long-suffering, lament, and liberation.
3:45 - 4:45 p.m. | Joint Choir Rehearsal of the PLU Choir of the West and The National Lutheran Choir | Lagerquist Concert Hall | Open to all conference participants
Conference Participants are welcome to join PLU’s Choir of the West and The National Lutheran Choir for their Joint Rehearsal where we will be allowed to watch the everyday life and work of the choirs as they embody the conference theme. As a part of the rehearsal, we will also be the first to hear some collaborative work the choirs are planning.
4:45 p.m. | Conference Concludes
5 - 7 p.m. | Dinner Break
Evening Concert
7:30 p.m. | Lagerquist Concert Hall
A separate, but related, event takes place in the evening with a performance by the National Lutheran Choir (Minneapolis/St.Paul). PLU is delighted to welcome this internationally recognized and distinguished choir and its Director, Dr. David Cherwien. This is their first West Coast tour, which begins with their performance at PLU. Dr. Cherwien has chosen the theme Una Sancta, recognizing the ancient roots of the Lutheran Reformation while offering a diverse array of contemporary choral compositions. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in Lagerquist Concert Hall in the Russell Music Center.
While the concert is also free and open to the public, tickets to the concert must be picked up in advance at the PLU Concierge Desk in the Anderson University Center. There is a maximum of 10 tickets/per person. We are unable to take telephone reservations and hold tickets at the door. Tickets will be available for pick up on Monday, Sept.11, on a first-come, first served basis. Dr. Samuel Torvend is coordinating details and answering questions concerning the Choir concert (torvensa@plu.edu); Cynthia Givens, Administrative Assistant to the Humanities Division also may be able to answer your questions about the conference or the concert (cynthia.givens@plu.edu).
Speakers
Opening Remarks: Luther’s Theology of Music and Singing with the Lutherans
Who: Marit A. Trelstad, PLU Chair of Lutheran Studies and Professor of Constructive and Lutheran Theologies at PLU
Bio: Dr. Trelstad has a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion and Theology from Claremont Graduate University and an M.A. in Systematic Theology from Luther Northwestern Seminary. Her scholarly work combines feminist, process and Lutheran theologies and has focused on Christology, theological anthropology, the doctrine of God, and science and religion. As a contributor and editor, she published Cross Examinations: Readings on the Meaning of the Cross Today (Fortress, 2006) and contributed chapters to Transformative Lutheran Theologies (Fortress, 2010), Lutherrenaissance: Past and Present (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2014), Theologies of Creation: Creatio Ex Nihilo and Its New Rivals (Routledge, August 2014) and Creating Women’s Theology: A Movement Engaging Process Thought, (St. Louis: Chalice, 2011).
Presentation Title: The Church’s Song: Always in Reform
Who: David Cherwien, Director of The National Lutheran Choir
Bio: Dr. David Cherwien serves as Cantor at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, a parish known for its passion for traditional liturgy and creative, high-quality music. He also serves as editor of the National Lutheran Choir Series of choral music published by Morningstar Music Publishers. Cherwien is a founding member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and has served in its leadership in a variety of capacities, including as National President. He is a member of the American Choral Director’s Association, American Guild of Organists, Chorus America, and Choristers Guild.
Cherwien holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance and the Master of Arts degree in Theory and Composition from the University of Minnesota. In the Fall of 2000, he was honored as a “Distinguished Alumnus” by Augsburg College (Minneapolis, Minn.), where he studied choral music education and organ performance as an undergraduate. He also spent two years at the Berlin Church Music School studying conducting, composition and organ.
Cherwien is a prolific composer with over 150 publications with several publishers, and is the 2007 winner of the Raabe Prize for Excellence in Sacred Composition for his piece, “The Souls of the Righteous.” For the National Lutheran Choir alone, Cherwien has composed at least 24 new works during his tenure with the Choir.
Hymn Festival: 500 Years of Singing
Who: Paul Tegels, Associate Professor of Music and University Organist at PLU
Bio: Dr. Paul Tegels, a native of the Netherlands, is Associate Professor of Music, and serves as University Organist at Pacific Lutheran University. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Organ Performance and Pedagogy and his Master of Arts Degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Iowa, where he studied organ with Delores Bruch, and choral conducting with William Hatcher. Other degrees and awards include the Artist Diploma and the Master of Music Degree in organ performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston where he studied with Yuko Hayashi and William Porter. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship from the Netherlands-America Commission for Educational Exchange.
He holds the teaching and performance degrees from the Stedelijk Conservatorium in Arnhem, The Netherlands, where he studied organ with Bert Matter and harpsichord with Cees Rosenhart. He has done extensive research on the organ and harpsichord concertos of Franz Joseph Haydn, and has played the first American performance of the Haydn Organ Concerto in D, Hoboken XVIII-2, of which he has prepared a performance edition.
Currently he is working on a publication of 4 hand organ works/arrangements. He is past dean of the Tacoma Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and is past president of the Westfield Center for Keyboard Studies.
Prior to his appointment at PLU, he taught at Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS. Tegels has performed extensively in solo and ensemble concerts in the United States, Europe, Japan, and New Zealand. He has performed at National Conventions of the Organ Historical Society, and has played some of the most significant organs in the US. As a lecturer, he has presented numerous programs at chapter meetings of the American Guild of Organists, and at other conventions. He also performs frequently in duet concerts with University of Illinois professor of organ, Dana Robinson.
Hymn Festival: 500 Years of Singing
Who: David C. Horton, Director of Music Ministries at Faith Lutheran in Redmond, Wash.
Bio: David C. Horton, pianist, and composer, is a native of Southern California. He earned his B.M. in Composition and Keyboard Studies at Pacific Lutheran University and an M.M. in Composition (emphasis in dance and media collaboration) from the University of Oregon (Eugene, Ore.). Horton has performed with several prominent Pacific Northwest and Midwest ensembles and theater companies, including Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West, the Oregon Bach Festival Composers’ Symposium (Eugene, OR), and has been a featured artist with Music Northwest, Seattle Pro Musica, (Alex) and Taylor Dance (New York, NY), TRANSForm National Dance Collective, Ashland Productions, and Old Log Children’s Theater (Minneapolis, Minn.).
Horton currently serves as the Director of Music Ministries at Faith Lutheran Church (Redmond, Wash.). He is the Artistic Director of Fine Arts at Faith in Redmond, which hosts professional music ensembles and solo artists from the Western Washington Region. He currently sings with Seattle Pro Musica and serves on the Executive Council for the Northwest Washington ELCA Synod.
Presentation Title: A Brief History of the Lutheran College Choir Tradition in America
Who: Richard Nance, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at PLU
Bio: Dr. Richard Nance is professor of music and director of choral activities at Pacific Lutheran University, where he conducts the Choir of the West and Choral Union. He holds degrees from West Texas State University and Arizona State University, and prior to coming to PLU in 1992 he taught at Amarillo (Texas) College and the public schools of Texas and New Mexico. Nance is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, and he has been a Washington state and Northwest division president in that organization.
Nance’s choirs have long had a reputation for excellence, and have performed at many prestigious events including the American Choral Directors Association National Conference (2001, 2013), ACDA Division Conferences (1996,1998, 2002, 2006, 2012, 2014), the 2011 Harmonie Festival in Lindenholzhausen, Germany (two gold awards and one silver), the 2014 Florence International Choral Festival (winner in two categories and for outstanding conductor), the 2015 Anton Bruckner Choral Competition in Linz, Austria (winner in two categories and the Anton Bruckner award for winning the entire competition), and at the 2015 National Collegiate Choral Organization Conference. Richard Nance received the 2011 and 2013 “American Prize” for Choral Conducting and received the 2013-2014 K.T. Tang Faculty Excellence Award for Research at Pacific Lutheran University. Also active as a composer, Nance has works published by Walton Music, Hinshaw Music and Colla Voce Music. He composed the prestigious Raymond W. Brock Commission (2002) for the American Choral Directors Association.
Presentation Title: A Theology of African American Sacred Song and Liberation
Who: Stephen Newby, Director of the Center for Worship at Seattle Pacific University
Bio: A native of Detroit, Mich., Dr. Stephen Michael Newby is an accomplished composer, gospel/jazz vocalist, and worship leader whose works have been performed by the Cascade Youth Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Canton Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Savannah Symphony, and New World Theater Orchestra; and have earned him numerous awards and grants.
In 1984 Newby earned a bachelor of arts in vocal music education and flute performance from Madonna College in Livonia, Mich. In 1987 he earned a master of music in jazz composition and arranging from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where he did his studies in composition under Robert Sutton, Frederick Tillis, Jeff Holmes, and Robert Stern. Returning to Michigan, he completed his doctorate of musical arts in composition in 1994 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. There he studied with William Albright, Michael Daugherty, George Wilson, Fred Lerdahl, and Pulitzer Prize winners William Bolcom and Leslie Bassett.
In addition to directing the Center for Worship, Newby serves as director of the SPU Gospel Choir and the Worship Arts Ensemble, and leads men’s ministry on campus. He has served as a worship pastor for more than 25 years in Michigan, Massachusetts, Washington, and California, and leads new worship music programs at Seattle Pacific University.
Newby’s awards and grants include the National Endowment of the Arts 2005 St. Paul, Minnesota, Continental Harmony Grant; the King County Arts Commission of Washington Grant; The Rackham School Fellowship for Ethno-musicological Research in Dakar, Senegal; and the John Wesley Work III National Composers’ Award.